Bears notebook: Hester removed on kickoffs, adds to running game

Monday

The Bears replaced Devin Hester on kickoffs, but kept him happy by giving him the ball in other ways.

The Bears replaced Devin Hester on kickoffs, but kept him happy by giving him the ball in other ways.

After his replacement, Danieal Manning, opened the game with a 50-yard kickoff return, Hester ran 20 yards on a reverse on Chicago’s first offensive play. The Bears went on to score a touchdown.

On Chicago’s second touchdown drive, Hester ran 12 yards on a direct snap out of the Wildcat formation and also caught two passes for 35 yards.

“Stuff like that puts the defense on their heels,” Hester said after the Bears routed the St. Louis Rams 27-3. “It has to be called at the right time in the right situation. You can’t just call it any time.”

Hester caught five passes, one shy of his career high, for 57 yards, all in the first half. He also returned four punts for 26 yards, but the focus was on his two running plays.

“We wanted to open up the playbook and not be afraid to call anything, so we started off with the reverse,” quarterback Kyle Orton said. “It got us going as an offense. He had some big catches for us as well.”

Hester said he didn’t even miss returning kicks. Manning returned two for 76 yards.

“My legs felt fresh,” Hester said. “It is tough being a return man and having a big role on offense. This keeps me more energized so I can run around a little bit more.”

Punt rule helps Bears

The Rams, trailing 14-0, attempted a fake punt on fourth-and-15. Eric Bassey was wide open, but punter Donnie Jones’ pass hung so long in the air that Corey Graham was able to tackle him before the ball arrived.

A flag was initially thrown, but referee Terry McAuley explained that rule 8-2-5 says, “There cannot be a foul for defensive pass interference for action on the end man on the line of scrimmage in an apparent punt formation.”

Rams interim coach Jim Haslett agreed.

“There is not pass interference on a fake punt,” Haslett said. “It wasn’t defensive holding. It was a dumb play for the upback to call on fourth-and-15.”

Brown, Clark, Vasher hurt

Safety Mike Brown (lower leg) sat out the second half, while tight end Dallas Clark (knee) and cornerback Nathan Vasher (thumb) also left with injuries.

“We don’t know how serious any of them are,” coach Lovie Smith said.

He called Brown’s problem “a lingering” injury and said the Bears held him out at halftime as a precautionary measure.

Buddy system

Lance Briggs tipped a pass intercepted by Brian Urlacher. Then Urlacher tipped a pass that Briggs picked off for the first of his two interceptions.

“The ball bounced in the right direction finally,” Urlacher said. “We both made a couple of plays.”

A loss is a loss (or not)

Defensive ends Alex Brown and Adewale Ogunleye differed on whether a sack is better than stuffing a running play for a loss.

“If you tackle the running back for a 4-yard loss or tackle the quarterback for a 4-yard loss, what’s the difference? It’s still a 4-yard loss,” Brown said.

“It’s not the same,” Ogunleye interrupted, sticking his head into Brown’s interview session.

“Quarterback or running back, it doesn’t matter,” Brown said.

“It’s not the same,” Ogunleye said.

“It’ll still be second-and-14.”

“It’s not the same.”

“People just look at it different.”

“It’s not the same.”

Wolfe saves TD

The closest St. Louis came to a touchdown was on Derek Stanley’s 75-yard first-quarter kickoff return. Garrett Wolfe ran him down from behind at the 23 and Chicago held the Rams to a missed field goal after a third-down sack by Tommie Harris.